-- "I'm glad we're playing right away," he said. "If we had another day for everybody to exaggerate and over blow what we did yesterday and us to feel too good about ourselves, that wouldn't be a good recipe."

-- He stressed the playoff race still leaves little margin for error.

-- "I think everybody's still on edge," he said. "We understand that this league is so fragile. It really is."

-- And, "If we don't keep on moving forward . . . then we're still not where we want to be."

-- When did Madison Square Garden become the deadest building in the league?

-- It was full.

-- And mostly silent.

-- Inaugural Heat point guard Rory Sparrow was honored at the game by the Knicks as part of a commemoration of their 1984 playoff team.

-- With inaugural Heat coach Ron Rothstein also in the building, on the Heat radio broadcast.

-- Hubie Brown, Bill Cartwright, Darrell Walker and Bernard King also were honored by the Knicks.